Movies recommended by Eckhart Tolle

“Every movie that you see, if you get down to the basis of it, is about some sort of a conflict. Because if you went to see a movie with no conflict in it, after 15 minutes you will say I want my money back. There is nothing happening.

In a conflict the protagonist is being confronted with problems and challenges, their normal existence is disrupted. And unless their normal existence is disrupted, change doesn't happen.

So in good movies you see that the disruption of normal life which is initially – usually by those who are experiencing it – interpreted as negative. The disruption of normal life is ultimately that which brings about a shift in consciousness.

In not good movies all you experience is conflict. But it is never transcended on an inner level. It might be resolved on an outer level. e.g. finally the criminal get put away into jail so you feel relieved that at least he got what he deserved. But there is no change.

If the conflict that arises – disruption of a normal life – results in a deepening then that is not just happening to the characters on the screen. The viewer partakes, if only to a small degree, of the shift of consciousness that is happening to the characters on the screen by the act of identification.

That is the power of entertainment. That it invites you to identify. The suspension of disbelief draws you in, to such extent that you voluntarily suspend or let go of knowing that this is not actually happening. It is as if it were happening for you, especially if you identify with a character. And if the character that you identified with goes through transformation, then that can bring about the same in you. You are not totally the same person after watching than you were before. There been small degree of participation in the shift that happened to the character. That is the great possibility in movies; to bring that to humanity.” ― Eckhart Tolle

Self transcendence and letting go of self: Great movie again about transformation sohwing someone who is totally trapped in a miserable conditioned sense of self. Unfortunately the title is not very inspiring, it is called Gran Torino.

Another film I saw where I said wow this character has no ego. With every interaction he displays no ego. He is just a presence there, no reactions, everybody is immediately accepted.

Just wonderful to watch. Again I don't know whether this is accidental creation, or there is some higher consciousness that sometimes guides the script writer into creating a character that is free of ego, or whether the script writer is consciously aware that he is creating a character that is free of ego.

One of the movies that shows the dysfunction of the mind on a personal level. It shows the nature of reactivity and what it does. A relatively insignificant event, through unconscious reactivity get amplified over the successive days into extreme madness.

And with all the insanity going on the foreground, on the background that movie shows you occasionally little hints of transcendence.

There are movies that show people who are at pre-egoic stage. And that itself can be beautiful too. It is not your destiny to go there. But it is beautiful to see how anybody who is free of ego is so tuned into the totality of life, that he or she in their daily life are supported by events that happen to them because they are tuned into the totality. Not only are they helpful to other humans and situations, but life is helpful to them. In the absence of ego you are a blessing to the world.

Pre-egoic means the mind made self has not yet arisen. They are very simple humans. They at somewhat child like state. In mythology often described as the fool.

In absence of ego he is an unobstructed expression of the totality of life.

A film that the critics didn't like. But don't always listen to the critics. Based on a book with same title. About a young man trying to be present. It teaches you that there are no insignificant moment.

The camera show you the aliveness of what before was regarded as insignificant. It gives you an experience of presence.

Nothing lasts for long. Everything is destined to dissolve. If a film can show you to some degree the fact of impermanence, then that film can also be an access point it the transcendent dimension.

The shift between the old couple and the young couple, which you later discover are the same people, gives you the sense of impermanence.

Something arises in you if you don't resist impermanence, that is very still and very present. It is almost satisfying to watch what was before unpleasant to watch, the fact of impermanence. Once you don't resist it it actually quite satisfying to see how life forms continuously dissolve.

As you acknowledge the fleetingness of all forms, something in you that is not part of the fleetingness of all forms arises more strongly. And what is that? You can say consciousness itself, the formless in you. Because it is only from there you can be aware of the fleetingness of all forms.

Some films have at its core a truth that everybody deep down knows. And that I believe explains the great success of some movies, which on the surface maybe not that great, but there is a core truth that is there. For example, the Matrix movie, especially the original one. The core truth is life is a dream. You are all walking around like dream walkers. But dream implies that it is possible to wake up. And ofcourse that is the possibility in that particular film. It is about waking up from the dream.

One is the underlying sense that nature or the world around you is pervaded by intelligence. That intelligence is not confined to the head, but you are surrounded by a field of intelligence. In other sense, every thing is an aspect of consciousness.

Although the movie has a lot of noise to it, I'd love to have seen a little bit more stillness in it. Nevertheless, it brings into the consciousness of a mass audience the sense of sacredness of nature.

The other way in which it is there – The transcendent dimension – in this particular film, is that in a movie one usually identifies with characters. And in this movie you are most likely to identify not with your own species, but with the alien species. And that brings in the transcendent dimension because it invites you away from egoic consciousness, the collective ego and identification with collective form of us.

Even in a blockbuster film like Titanic there is a spiritual dimension. It shows you the decaying wreck of the ship at the bottom of the sea several times in the movie. At the beginning, at the end and in the middle.

You see the life at the boat, and then it suddenly shifts to the image of the decaying of the ship at the bottom of the sea. The shift back and forth gives you sense of almost dream like quality of what is happening at the boat. And that is already gone. Because everybody knows even before you watch what is going to happen. And nevertheless, the film is going to capture your attention.

Also the woman who is the young girl on the boat and the very old woman in the present time. Whenever you see in film the shift between the same character as a young person and the same character as an old person it is deepening.